Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
New American Library/Signet Classics (1967), Mass Market Paperback, 430 pages
Description
Elmer Gantry is the portrait of a silver-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church, yet lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality, and ruthless self-indulgence. The title character starts out as a greedy, shallow, philandering Baptist minister, turns to evangelism, and eventually becomes the leader of a large Methodist congregation. Throughout the novel, Gantry encounters fellow religious hypocrites. Although often exposed as a fraud, Gantry is never fully discredited. Elmer Gantry is considered a landmark in American literature and one of the most penetrating studies of hypocrisy in modern literature. The novel also represents the evangelistic activity of America in the 1920s and people's attitudes toward it.
User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
BkC 56
Rating: 4.25* of five
The Book Description: Today universally recognized as a landmark in American literature, Elmer Gantry scandalized readers when it was first published, causing Sinclair Lewis to be "invited" to a jail cell in New Hampshire and to his own lynching in Virginia. His portrait
My Review: I grew up in a single-parent household. My mother was a pedophile, and I was her philed pedo. She was also the most thunderational kind of christian nutball, the most conservative kind of social fascist conformist, and a chilly, appearance-obsessed harpy. Unless you were a stranger, when she presented as a pious, charming, lovely woman.
So Elmer Gantry was, for me, a documentary not a novel. I read it at maybe fifteen or so, just after I read Babbitt, and was astounded to read my own experiences of the asshole religiosifiers who surrounded me in a book over fifty years old! I hated them, powerfully and corrosively, then as now, and there was for me a giant pouring of balm over my outraged soul as I read this book: These people aren't the first! These people didn't invent this idiocy! If Lewis escaped to tell about it, so can I!
The rise of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and that ignorant ilk is not new, ladies and gents, it's happened before. This novel will show you that this kind of perverted conservative religious stupidity has always been with us, and its basic small-souled evil isn't unique to our times either.
Depending on my mood, that's either a comfort or a misery. But it always makes me feel less alone, less like I'm missing something and misinterpreting other things, to read this classic exposé of the long-standing culture of ignorant and evil exploitive "salvation artists."
Rating: 4.25* of five
The Book Description: Today universally recognized as a landmark in American literature, Elmer Gantry scandalized readers when it was first published, causing Sinclair Lewis to be "invited" to a jail cell in New Hampshire and to his own lynching in Virginia. His portrait
Show More
of a golden-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church - a saver of souls who lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality, and ruthless self-indulgence - is also the record of a period, a reign of grotesque vulgarity, which but for Lewis would have left no record of itself. Elmer Gantry has been called the greatest, most vital, and most penetrating study of hypocrisy that has been written since Voltaire.My Review: I grew up in a single-parent household. My mother was a pedophile, and I was her philed pedo. She was also the most thunderational kind of christian nutball, the most conservative kind of social fascist conformist, and a chilly, appearance-obsessed harpy. Unless you were a stranger, when she presented as a pious, charming, lovely woman.
So Elmer Gantry was, for me, a documentary not a novel. I read it at maybe fifteen or so, just after I read Babbitt, and was astounded to read my own experiences of the asshole religiosifiers who surrounded me in a book over fifty years old! I hated them, powerfully and corrosively, then as now, and there was for me a giant pouring of balm over my outraged soul as I read this book: These people aren't the first! These people didn't invent this idiocy! If Lewis escaped to tell about it, so can I!
The rise of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and that ignorant ilk is not new, ladies and gents, it's happened before. This novel will show you that this kind of perverted conservative religious stupidity has always been with us, and its basic small-souled evil isn't unique to our times either.
Depending on my mood, that's either a comfort or a misery. But it always makes me feel less alone, less like I'm missing something and misinterpreting other things, to read this classic exposé of the long-standing culture of ignorant and evil exploitive "salvation artists."
Show Less
LibraryThing member Atomicmutant
*spoilers contained within*
This is a remarkable book. If you're wondering whether to read this, go for it.
Elmer Gantry is the story of a man who becomes a fundamentalist preacher in the early part of the 20th century. He's unscrupulous, not too bright, libidinous, greedy, amoral, and compelling. He
I enjoyed the solidly realistic take on religion and America at the time, and in reading the afterword (in the Signet Classic edition), was interested to read about all the research Lewis did to write this book. There’s a lot of weight to his depiction as a result. I almost wish I had read that afterword, “beforeword”, because I do think that the novel functions as both a history of sorts in addition to the fun, tawdry soap opera that it is. This accounts, I think, for some of the weaker stretches of the book, such as in the last half, where we are subjected to pages of doctrinal and denominational administrative minutia.
The wind goes out of the book’s sails a bit when Elmer's female doppleganger, Sharon dies. It seemed to flounder around a bit, and for the first time, I found myself a bit impatient with it. Then it all wraps up quickly, and it seemed to me like Lewis was losing steam. Again, the afterword was pretty instructive, I guess he had some personal tragedy and started to drink heavily. Interesting stuff, to see the work and his life together in commentary like that.
Although I wanted to see Elmer “get his”, I thought it was pretty realistic and satisfying to have us leave him in a status quo position, having yet again escaped personal destruction. I’m certain that there are a lot more of these sorts of people that are getting away with this sort of thing than have been caught!
Throughout, I loved the commentary and language. It’s interesting that he sprinkles references to Mencken, Ingersoll, et. al. throughout the book, he really seems to have known his subject. I ordered a bunch of Ingersoll books as a result, I’ve read a lot about him, but have never read his own work.
The book, like Elmer, is surprisingly daring and reckless at times. I am certain that it caused quite a stir upon publication. It doesn’t pull any punches in matters of religion, and is also pretty shockingly, albeit coyingly, sexual in several spots. There’s a lot of clever allusion and innuendo.
I also enjoyed the huge variety of characters, and their personal stories. It’s as though Lewis was really trying to portray a diversity of human journeys through faith and reason. Had he chosen to focus on Elmer alone, I think, it would have been pithy, but incapacious. I’m grateful that he chose to explore an entire spectrum of religious and freethinking experience through his characters.
I am very, very glad to have read this book.
This is a remarkable book. If you're wondering whether to read this, go for it.
Elmer Gantry is the story of a man who becomes a fundamentalist preacher in the early part of the 20th century. He's unscrupulous, not too bright, libidinous, greedy, amoral, and compelling. He
Show More
certainly fits the textbook definition of scoundrel. In this way, he’s not likeable, per se, but you watch him and go along with him just to see what he’s capable of. (And, perhaps, to reflect, in holier than thou fashion, how you would never be like that) It reminded me of our fascination with mobsters in movies and such. It’s like slowing down for a car wreck, purient, but human.I enjoyed the solidly realistic take on religion and America at the time, and in reading the afterword (in the Signet Classic edition), was interested to read about all the research Lewis did to write this book. There’s a lot of weight to his depiction as a result. I almost wish I had read that afterword, “beforeword”, because I do think that the novel functions as both a history of sorts in addition to the fun, tawdry soap opera that it is. This accounts, I think, for some of the weaker stretches of the book, such as in the last half, where we are subjected to pages of doctrinal and denominational administrative minutia.
The wind goes out of the book’s sails a bit when Elmer's female doppleganger, Sharon dies. It seemed to flounder around a bit, and for the first time, I found myself a bit impatient with it. Then it all wraps up quickly, and it seemed to me like Lewis was losing steam. Again, the afterword was pretty instructive, I guess he had some personal tragedy and started to drink heavily. Interesting stuff, to see the work and his life together in commentary like that.
Although I wanted to see Elmer “get his”, I thought it was pretty realistic and satisfying to have us leave him in a status quo position, having yet again escaped personal destruction. I’m certain that there are a lot more of these sorts of people that are getting away with this sort of thing than have been caught!
Throughout, I loved the commentary and language. It’s interesting that he sprinkles references to Mencken, Ingersoll, et. al. throughout the book, he really seems to have known his subject. I ordered a bunch of Ingersoll books as a result, I’ve read a lot about him, but have never read his own work.
The book, like Elmer, is surprisingly daring and reckless at times. I am certain that it caused quite a stir upon publication. It doesn’t pull any punches in matters of religion, and is also pretty shockingly, albeit coyingly, sexual in several spots. There’s a lot of clever allusion and innuendo.
I also enjoyed the huge variety of characters, and their personal stories. It’s as though Lewis was really trying to portray a diversity of human journeys through faith and reason. Had he chosen to focus on Elmer alone, I think, it would have been pithy, but incapacious. I’m grateful that he chose to explore an entire spectrum of religious and freethinking experience through his characters.
I am very, very glad to have read this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Terpsichoreus
This send up of religious institutions was so devestating that many religious leaders called for Lewis to be stoned to death for writing it. His biting, insightful, and humorous look at religious hypocrisy is as pertinant today as it was when it was first written.
The pure strength of Lewis's prose
There are occasions when his passion overcomes him and his critiques fall a little heavy-handed, but these moments are rare and short. He never falls to the sort of surrogate lecturing that many 'political' authors do, and so does not risk boring or underestimating his reader.
He certainly never partakes in the more grievous sin of lecturing the audience as the narrator. Indeed, he rarely makes a point towards his own opinions without undermining it with a little hypocrisy or hubris on the character's part.
The absurdity of Voltaire's satire has nothing on the ridiculous yet believable world created by Lewis. Hyperbole is the haven of the idealist. Realism is more interested in engaging reason than inciting passion, and while Lewis's understated wit never insults his reader's intelligence, it still presents an unsettling and prescient view of power, ignorance, and the masses.
The pure strength of Lewis's prose
Show More
is refreshing after reading more recent authors. His control and understanding of syntax, grammar, and words maintains a strength and clarity of voice throughout the work. However, he does not sacrifice wit or levity for all his precision.There are occasions when his passion overcomes him and his critiques fall a little heavy-handed, but these moments are rare and short. He never falls to the sort of surrogate lecturing that many 'political' authors do, and so does not risk boring or underestimating his reader.
He certainly never partakes in the more grievous sin of lecturing the audience as the narrator. Indeed, he rarely makes a point towards his own opinions without undermining it with a little hypocrisy or hubris on the character's part.
The absurdity of Voltaire's satire has nothing on the ridiculous yet believable world created by Lewis. Hyperbole is the haven of the idealist. Realism is more interested in engaging reason than inciting passion, and while Lewis's understated wit never insults his reader's intelligence, it still presents an unsettling and prescient view of power, ignorance, and the masses.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jaimjane
Coming from a hyper-religious backround I was blown away when I read this book. Lewis nailed it! Hypocrisy, manipulation, hidden vices and abuses, it was all there. One of the things I was impressed with is how the stages of hypocrisy got worse as the story progressed. In the beginning they were
Show More
somewhat harmless, almost comical, but wow, very nasty by the end. From reading the introduction I understand he was "invited" to a jail cell upon publication. That says alot and not about Lewis. Hats off for exposing what many would rather keep hidden. Show Less
LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
Fiery and acidic satire of the best kind. Makes fun of the hypocrisy of a certain type of preacher which I thought only existed recently as televangelists, but in fact were there long before.
LibraryThing member kwohlrob
Sinclair Lewis' writing always sticks with me. Perhaps it is because he so wonderfully savaged American culture, laying out all its ills, prejudices, and hypocrisies as a feast for the reader. The characters he presented to us--Elmer Gantry, George Babbitt, Samuel Dodsworth, and Will Kennicott--
Of these Elmer Gantry, the title character of Lewis' 11th novel, still rings the most true, if for no other reason than that the tomfoolery Lewis witnessed in tent preachers has grown exponentially into the likes of Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Trinity Broadcasting, and the Christian Family coalition. In 1927, Lewis saw evangelical preachers as frauds, more hellbent on raising money and controlling their congregations than actually saving souls. The morality was suspect, a sales point. Lewis would have relished the arrival of a preacher like Creflo Dollar who insists business advice can be found in the bible.
It goes without saying that Lewis' work always had something to say, a larger social commentary that infuses all of his novels. But he was also one of America's best satirists. There are infinite moments of hilarity in Elmer Gantry in spite of the horror. The first line of the novel is a great example of his style:
"Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk."
Or there is Elmer's rejection of Lulu Bains:
"Once or twice in his visions he had considered that there might be danger of having to marry her. He had determined that marriage now would cramp his advancement in the church and that, anyway, he didn't want to marry this brainless little fluffy chick, who would be of no help in impressing rich parishioners."
NPR recently featured a look back on the novel, which includes snippets from the Academy-Award-winning film adaptation starring Burt Lancaster. While it is not a purely faithful adaptation of the book, Lancaster is fantastic in the role as Gantry; exuding that strange mix of religious cheerleader, drunken thug, and linebacker for God.
While I would admit that Babbitt is my favorite work by Lewis, I find myself more often reflecting back on Elmer Gantry . I'm happy to say I actually own one of the original 1927 editions. For my money, no book is better at shining a spotlight on all the flaws of Evangelical Christianity and its influence on America.
Show More
were bright smiling neighbors that revealed the grotesque in American values.Of these Elmer Gantry, the title character of Lewis' 11th novel, still rings the most true, if for no other reason than that the tomfoolery Lewis witnessed in tent preachers has grown exponentially into the likes of Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Trinity Broadcasting, and the Christian Family coalition. In 1927, Lewis saw evangelical preachers as frauds, more hellbent on raising money and controlling their congregations than actually saving souls. The morality was suspect, a sales point. Lewis would have relished the arrival of a preacher like Creflo Dollar who insists business advice can be found in the bible.
It goes without saying that Lewis' work always had something to say, a larger social commentary that infuses all of his novels. But he was also one of America's best satirists. There are infinite moments of hilarity in Elmer Gantry in spite of the horror. The first line of the novel is a great example of his style:
"Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk."
Or there is Elmer's rejection of Lulu Bains:
"Once or twice in his visions he had considered that there might be danger of having to marry her. He had determined that marriage now would cramp his advancement in the church and that, anyway, he didn't want to marry this brainless little fluffy chick, who would be of no help in impressing rich parishioners."
NPR recently featured a look back on the novel, which includes snippets from the Academy-Award-winning film adaptation starring Burt Lancaster. While it is not a purely faithful adaptation of the book, Lancaster is fantastic in the role as Gantry; exuding that strange mix of religious cheerleader, drunken thug, and linebacker for God.
While I would admit that Babbitt is my favorite work by Lewis, I find myself more often reflecting back on Elmer Gantry . I'm happy to say I actually own one of the original 1927 editions. For my money, no book is better at shining a spotlight on all the flaws of Evangelical Christianity and its influence on America.
Show Less
LibraryThing member terriks
Should be required reading upon reaching one's 18th birthday
LibraryThing member spvaughan
drat rat it! i had a lovely well thought out review that the computer gods ate up! so now all you get is the condensed version: my dad banned me from seeing the movie...'might destroy what religious beliefs you have!' college, first review assignment...grabbed.
piffle! may have effected him but
recommend...no. oh, it is well written but not a mind bender...well, not mine anyway.
piffle! may have effected him but
Show More
...he had to be kidding.recommend...no. oh, it is well written but not a mind bender...well, not mine anyway.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Devil_llama
One of Lewis's most memorable characters, Elmer Gantry is the picture of arrogance and righteousness wrapped into one package. As is often the case with Lewis, he throws his best stuff into creating the main character, then surrounds him with a cavalcade of stock characters in broadly drawn
Show More
stereotypes. Still, the character of Gantry has leant his name to a certain type of charlatan and man of the cloth, and will live on forever. This is a strangely compelling book, and easier to read than many of Lewis's books. Show Less
LibraryThing member AshRyan
"Just what *were* the personality and the teachings of Jesus? I'll admit it's the heart of the controversy over the Christian religion:---aside from the fact that, of course, most people believe in a church because they were *born* to it. But the essential query is: Did Jesus---if the Biblical
"O Lord, thou hast stooped from thy mighty throne and rescued thy servant from the assault of the mercenaries of Satan! Mostly we thank thee because thus we can go on doing thy work, and thine alone! Not less but more zealously shall we seek utter purity and the prayer-life, and rejoice in freedom from all temptations! ... Let me count this day, Lord, as the beginning of a new and more vigorous life, as the beginning of a crusade for complete morality and the domination of the Christian church through all the land. Dear Lord, the work is but begun! We shall yet make these United States a moral nation!" -- Elmer Gantry
Here, Sinclair Lewis tells the story of American religion in the early 20th century, through the characters of Elmer Gantry---a self-righteous, hypocritical evangelical preacher---and his foil, Frank Shallard---his honest, reflective, and therefore doubtful colleague. The story progresses from ridiculous, to surreal, to nightmarish. Unfortunately, it is all too relevant still today.
Show More
accounts of him are even half accurate---have a particularly noble personality, and were his teachings particularly original and profound? You know it's almost impossible to get people to read the Bible honestly. They've been so brought up to take the church interpretation of every word that they read into it whatever they've been taught to find there. ... Just what are the teachings of Christ? Did he come to bring peace or more war? He says both. Did he approve earthly monarchies or rebel against them? He says both. ... One place in the Sermon on the Mount he advises...: 'Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven,' and then five minutes later he's saying, 'Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.' That's an absolute contradiction, in the one document which is the charter of the whole Christian Church. Oh, I know you can reconcile them...That's the whole aim of the ministerial training: to teach us to reconcile contradictions by saying that one of them doesn't mean what it means. ... My objection to the church isn't that the preachers are cruel, hypocritical, actually wicked, though some of them are that too.... My chief objection is that ninety-nine per cent. of sermons and Sunday School teachings are so agonizingly *dull*!" -- Frank Shallard"O Lord, thou hast stooped from thy mighty throne and rescued thy servant from the assault of the mercenaries of Satan! Mostly we thank thee because thus we can go on doing thy work, and thine alone! Not less but more zealously shall we seek utter purity and the prayer-life, and rejoice in freedom from all temptations! ... Let me count this day, Lord, as the beginning of a new and more vigorous life, as the beginning of a crusade for complete morality and the domination of the Christian church through all the land. Dear Lord, the work is but begun! We shall yet make these United States a moral nation!" -- Elmer Gantry
Here, Sinclair Lewis tells the story of American religion in the early 20th century, through the characters of Elmer Gantry---a self-righteous, hypocritical evangelical preacher---and his foil, Frank Shallard---his honest, reflective, and therefore doubtful colleague. The story progresses from ridiculous, to surreal, to nightmarish. Unfortunately, it is all too relevant still today.
Show Less
LibraryThing member usnmm2
If you've seen the movie you only have about 2 chapters worth from the book. It's more about Elmer Gantrys rise to power and the abuse of that power and trust to make and break peaple that makes it scary, and makes you think.
LibraryThing member marsap
The novel (amazingly, it was published in 1927) tells the journey of Elmer Gantry, a narcissistic, insincere, bigoted, unethical, womanizing, hypocritical student who abandons his ambition to become a lawyer to become a “preacher of the faith.” His journey leads Elmer from ordained Baptist
Show More
minister, a "New Thought" evangelist, traveling salesman and eventually Methodist minister of a large prestigious church. Along the way Elmer contributes to the downfall, physical injury, mental harm and even death of key people around him, including a genuine minister, Frank Shallard. If you are expecting redemption here—you will not find it! This is a satire, funny, biting, infuriating and downright frightening (Elmer comes up with a plan to control/legislate the morals/values of the US—now where have I seen that before??). Not only do we see the hypocrisy and falseness of Elmer—but it is evident in those around him (even "Scotty" the golf pro is not an actual Scot, but a fraud who learned his false accent from a Irishman!) I was so surprised how relevant this novel was—despite the fact that it was written in the 20s. The characters are vivid, the issues presented complex and still true today (I wondered at the end if this book had been read by the Christian Coalition--to get ideas for their campaign!). A 5 out of 5 stars—a must read! Show Less
LibraryThing member figre
What makes this such a fascinating story is that, in spite of how villainous Elmer Gantry is (I'm assuming I didn't need to put "spoiler alert" before that, you were already aware of that, weren't you?), he doesn't know it; he feels he has no choice in the things he does, he can justify any action,
The story starts with Elmer's college years where he is compelled to come to Christ. Normally, when speaking of the power of Christ compelling someone, it would be the power of the Holy Spirit. However, it is the people in Elmer's life that compel him (which he admits, then backs away from.) It is then that he learns he has a gift for giving powerful speeches. With that revelation, he begins to take control of his life, paying less and less attention to what others say and paying more attention to getting whatever it is he wants. He builds his power through the ministry, while continuing to display the more base attributes of human kind.
One of the more depressing aspects of this story is how relevant it is to today's situations. Suffice to say that condemnation for sin, back room deals and payoffs, blackmail, and mindless stoicism are not a brand new product of today's world.
The reader expects a comeuppance. But, after a while, you know it isn't going to happen. It is like the cliché of watching a train run headlong to a disaster. And with each dangerous curve, disaster seems more likely. And yet, for Elmer, the train never crashes, and he careens forward reaping undeserved success after undeserved success. Even at the end of the book, (to continue this belabored analogy) the brakeman let's go and more fire is fed into the boiler, with Elmer smiling at the handle.
Show More
and he truly believes he will turn over a new leaf. It would be easy to misunderstand how Elmer reacts, thinking he lets life lead him along like a Camus character. But Elmer, after letting life set him on the original path, takes control and drives the decisions that are made.The story starts with Elmer's college years where he is compelled to come to Christ. Normally, when speaking of the power of Christ compelling someone, it would be the power of the Holy Spirit. However, it is the people in Elmer's life that compel him (which he admits, then backs away from.) It is then that he learns he has a gift for giving powerful speeches. With that revelation, he begins to take control of his life, paying less and less attention to what others say and paying more attention to getting whatever it is he wants. He builds his power through the ministry, while continuing to display the more base attributes of human kind.
One of the more depressing aspects of this story is how relevant it is to today's situations. Suffice to say that condemnation for sin, back room deals and payoffs, blackmail, and mindless stoicism are not a brand new product of today's world.
The reader expects a comeuppance. But, after a while, you know it isn't going to happen. It is like the cliché of watching a train run headlong to a disaster. And with each dangerous curve, disaster seems more likely. And yet, for Elmer, the train never crashes, and he careens forward reaping undeserved success after undeserved success. Even at the end of the book, (to continue this belabored analogy) the brakeman let's go and more fire is fed into the boiler, with Elmer smiling at the handle.
Show Less
LibraryThing member miketroll
One of the great novels of the 20th century. Published in 1927, this story of a Barnum-style evangelist who does not believe in God was quickly banned in many US cities. But EG remains astonishingly prescient of the cynically exploitative TV evangelists of the 1980s.
LibraryThing member knightlight777
I had watched the movie version of Elmer Gantry a number of times and thought it would be good to read the novel and see how they matched up. Burt Lancaster, cast as Gantry was superb. I was rather surprised to see how drastically edited the movie was, but I guess I shouldn't have been because that
Show More
is usually the norm. The movie only covers to the demise of Sister Sharon. It also does not as I recall say much about Gantry even being a preacher. In any event I found the novel dragging on with really not that much to say other than portray the hypocritical side of the religion business. But Lewis was certainly on to something and foretold some of the great real life dramas that came to be such as the Jim and Tammy saga or even more closely to the Jimmy Swaggert era and of course the many we never get to hear about. Show Less
LibraryThing member leslie.98
I had expected that I would know the basics from having seen the movie but the book was completely different! Excellent satire about evangelical Christians, small town America & hypocrisy and the Anthony Heald narration was very good.
Elmer Gantry is a hypocrite but he doesn't even seem to realize when despite having his hypocrisy revealed to the public, Elmer manages (with help) to bribe & threaten the witnesses and spin the press so that he ends up being the winner. -- great for satire but awful for the real world).
Elmer Gantry is a hypocrite but he doesn't even seem to realize
Show More
it (or only dimly)! So many aspects of Elmer reminded me of Donald Trump that at times it was hard to continue (and made me hate the ending Show Less
LibraryThing member dypaloh
In Elmer Gantry, Elmer himself is less a character than a contrivance, an easy target who in our age might be a TV personality to serve his ambition to have an ever bigger Christian pulpit leading to what becomes, late in the book, his ultimate goal: to be “emperor of America—maybe of the
The novel is easy to read, often entertaining, and I like Lewis’s way with words. Even so, I didn’t buy into it much, not because people resembling Elmer can’t exist—we certainly have seen that they do—but because the program Lewis follows comes to seem predictable or annoying.
Among other goals, Lewis makes sure you’re repeatedly shown that all the normal human flaws violating biblical injunctions can be found in Christians and their preachers/presbyters/priests/pastors/whatever. I think virtually everyone receptive to this message already knows it. His preaching is to the choirs.
Elmer’s superficiality (little doubt what he’ll do, no matter what he says) blunts the attack on evangelism even as it makes Lewis’s condemnation plainer. It’d be better to have given Elmer’s personality more notes, something richer than clownish interest. Or maybe Lewis would have interested me more had he written a satire of a writer who satirizes evangelism. The fictive writer who satirizes becomes a kind of preacher himself, thus mimicking the subject of his satire and showing how easy it is to be converted into such a man. But that would divert us from the condemnations Lewis has undertaken.
Lewis’s central reason for writing this book is voiced by another preacher, a disaffected one, in a long monologue Lewis has composed that is the whole enchilada. Here Lewis makes clear it’s not the style of preaching that Elmer embodies or even his character that are the heart of the matter. It is the Bible and Jesus and Christianity and religion in general. Now that’s fundamentalist criticism.
In his harangue the preacher asserts, among other arguments, “You know it’s almost impossible to get people to read the Bible honestly. They’ve been so brought up to take the church interpretation of every word that they read into it whatever they’ve been taught to find there.” Elmer Gantry represents a challenge to believers to take that statement seriously by going beyond one’s upbringing and embracing Lewis’s version of honest encounters with scripture. It’s not hard to figure out how Lewis expects that challenge to be received.
Show More
world.” Heeeeere’s Elmer! Salesman for God (and for Elmer).The novel is easy to read, often entertaining, and I like Lewis’s way with words. Even so, I didn’t buy into it much, not because people resembling Elmer can’t exist—we certainly have seen that they do—but because the program Lewis follows comes to seem predictable or annoying.
Among other goals, Lewis makes sure you’re repeatedly shown that all the normal human flaws violating biblical injunctions can be found in Christians and their preachers/presbyters/priests/pastors/whatever. I think virtually everyone receptive to this message already knows it. His preaching is to the choirs.
Elmer’s superficiality (little doubt what he’ll do, no matter what he says) blunts the attack on evangelism even as it makes Lewis’s condemnation plainer. It’d be better to have given Elmer’s personality more notes, something richer than clownish interest. Or maybe Lewis would have interested me more had he written a satire of a writer who satirizes evangelism. The fictive writer who satirizes becomes a kind of preacher himself, thus mimicking the subject of his satire and showing how easy it is to be converted into such a man. But that would divert us from the condemnations Lewis has undertaken.
Lewis’s central reason for writing this book is voiced by another preacher, a disaffected one, in a long monologue Lewis has composed that is the whole enchilada. Here Lewis makes clear it’s not the style of preaching that Elmer embodies or even his character that are the heart of the matter. It is the Bible and Jesus and Christianity and religion in general. Now that’s fundamentalist criticism.
In his harangue the preacher asserts, among other arguments, “You know it’s almost impossible to get people to read the Bible honestly. They’ve been so brought up to take the church interpretation of every word that they read into it whatever they’ve been taught to find there.” Elmer Gantry represents a challenge to believers to take that statement seriously by going beyond one’s upbringing and embracing Lewis’s version of honest encounters with scripture. It’s not hard to figure out how Lewis expects that challenge to be received.
Show Less
LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
Elmer Gantry is such a cad.
The eponymous character of this religious satire, he's really not that likable. Charismatic, certainly, but not endearing in any sort of way. One of the star athletes of Terwillinger College, he is in love with himself and his own voice. An obvious choice for him is to
Even though the novel was originally published in 1927, its still surprisingly relevant if not as scandalous as when it was first written. Having been raised Baptist in the Midwest (albeit, not in the early 1900s), it was interesting how much I was able to recognize and how much I able to identify with many of Lewis's sentiments in the book. Although much of the novel is devoted to Elmer and Protestant hypocrisy, it is also an exploration of faith, belief, and humanism in America (even if it is rather tongue-in-cheek). Sinclair Lewis invested in quite a bit of background research before writing Elmer Gantry, and it shows.
I enjoyed reading this book very much, although it seemed to have lost quite a bit of momentum by the end--the first half or so of the novel was much better than the second. However, I did find the language and prose fantastic throughout with plenty of one-liners to go around. I would read it with a smirk on my face for much of the time. It was very good, if a bit slow going at times.
Experiments in Reading
The eponymous character of this religious satire, he's really not that likable. Charismatic, certainly, but not endearing in any sort of way. One of the star athletes of Terwillinger College, he is in love with himself and his own voice. An obvious choice for him is to
Show More
become a Baptist preacher--to save people's souls, of course! It has nothing to do with the power or prestige that comes along with it, not at all. He has a talent of getting himself into (and out of) touchy circumstances, little worse for the wear. The story follows the young man as he attends seminary and his various postings and resulting scandals. Throughout the book, these situations get fairly nasty (at least for others if not for Elmer)--it was like watching something horrible and not being able to look away. Oh, Elmer.Even though the novel was originally published in 1927, its still surprisingly relevant if not as scandalous as when it was first written. Having been raised Baptist in the Midwest (albeit, not in the early 1900s), it was interesting how much I was able to recognize and how much I able to identify with many of Lewis's sentiments in the book. Although much of the novel is devoted to Elmer and Protestant hypocrisy, it is also an exploration of faith, belief, and humanism in America (even if it is rather tongue-in-cheek). Sinclair Lewis invested in quite a bit of background research before writing Elmer Gantry, and it shows.
I enjoyed reading this book very much, although it seemed to have lost quite a bit of momentum by the end--the first half or so of the novel was much better than the second. However, I did find the language and prose fantastic throughout with plenty of one-liners to go around. I would read it with a smirk on my face for much of the time. It was very good, if a bit slow going at times.
Experiments in Reading
Show Less
LibraryThing member edwinbcn
It is surprising that the novels of Sinclair Lewis are not seen more in publication of classics, as such they now really are. Elmer Gantry should be read as a classic. The novel is a bit long drawn, and might be more accessible with notes. The introduction to the edition of Signet Classics is well
Reading Elmer Gantry was not very rewardingf, and quite a bit of a struggle. I think the theme and main idea still comes out clearly, but to modern readers the novel is probably a bit too long-winded. However, I am glad I read it.
Show More
worth reading. Readers with little experience of preachers as in the US might find the novel difficult to understand, even if the purport of the novel is extended to politicians.Reading Elmer Gantry was not very rewardingf, and quite a bit of a struggle. I think the theme and main idea still comes out clearly, but to modern readers the novel is probably a bit too long-winded. However, I am glad I read it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rminiot
A classic tale of early 20th Century American religious charlatinism.
LibraryThing member galoma
Sinclair Lewis was an atheist. He used this book as satire against the Christian church. All of the characters are either narcissistic manipulators or naive buffoons who are easily manipulated. However I enjoyed the book. Even though it was written in 1927, the message is just as relevant today. It
Show More
is an interesting study on how easily people can be fooled and mislead. It vividly illustrates what the Bible means by "a wolf in sheep's clothing." The title character, Elmer Gantry, reminded me of the television preachers of today. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2009)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1927
ISBN
none